Eight vie for Orange Rising Star Award

BAFTA: Down to the Wire - Orange Rising Star Award

The OrangeRising Star is not a traditional BAFTA award, but rather an audience prize that’s handed out on BAFTA night. It’s designed to engage the public in the ceremony, particularly the younger movie fans targeted by cellphone giant Orange, the title sponsor of the awards.

The longlist of eight contenders is drawn up by a jury of industry experts, but the five nominees and the winner are decided by public vote. However smart the longlist selections, the candidate with the year’s biggest box office has an inherent advantage.

By that yardstick, this year’s longlist is unusually hard to read.

It includes several actors who have appeared in blockbusters, several with multiple credits, several whose big films will be released just as the voting is taking place and one wild card in the form of Adam Deacon, a cult hero among the teen cellphone addicts who decide this award.

In order of their U.K. box office in 2011 (through Dec. 19), the contenders are: